By Doyin Ojosipe
The African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL) in partnership with the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has sought the collaboration of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) on deploying whistleblowing to address electoral fraud in Nigeria.
The call was made when AFRICMIL and NOA paid a courtesy visit to the ICPC headquarters, Monday, October 31, 2022.
Speaking during a visit to ICPC on October 31, 2022, Paul Odenyi, Assistant Director, Media and Publicity, NOA, said the decision to adopt whistleblowing as a tool to check vote buying and selling, as well as other forms of electoral malpractices was birthed during the launch of the PartnersUnited/CORA whistleblowing reporting portal in July this year.
The reporting platform was an initiative of Yar’Adua Foundation and AFRICMIL.
Odenyi stated that an electoral fraud form had already been integrated into the CORA whistleblowing reporting portal by the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation which hosts the PartnersUnited website.
He said part of the partnership was for AFRICMIL to collate the reports while all partnering Agencies and civil society organisations are to host the PartnersUnited/Whistleblowing link on their websites to avail Nigerians alternative websites to report electoral malpractice.
On his part, Kolawole Ogunbiyi, Programme Manager, AFRICMIL, said the initiative was well thought out to save Nigeria from disastrous consequences resulting from electoral corruption.
He noted that the collaboration was to bring in the law enforcement or security agencies into ensuring that culprits are arrested or named and shamed to serve as deterrent to those who are in the business of vote trading.
Senior Program Officer, Godwin Onyeacholem said the initiative will orientate Nigerians on the downside of electoral fraud and to further ensure the integrity of the 2023 electoral process.
He said although the EFCC and ICPC may not be everywhere, well meaning Nigerians could make reports which could further generate some discussions around sanitizing the electoral process.
Onyeacholem noted the collaboration with the ICPC and other security and law enforcement agencies as key partners in ridding the electoral process off corruption.
Responding, Femi Gold, Chief Superintendent at the ICPC Public Enlightenment and Education Unit, said the call for partnership was a welcome idea as the ICPC has also been in the business of monitoring.
However, he noted that a report on the AFRICMIL/NOA request for collaboration will be sent to the ICPC Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye, for approval.
Salma Abdulwaheed, Assistant Superintendent at the unit, advised that public enlightenment regarding the electoral fraud form on the whistleblowing platform be done in the three major languages (Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba).
She also urging civil society organisations to ensure that the polling units are manned by personnel who will lookout for malpractices and report them.
Mustapha Yusuf, also an Assistant Superintendent in the unit, said there was a need to be clear on the provisions of the Electoral Fraud Act to quote correctly the laws that could tackle the issues of vote trading.
